What do you think?

[Anna]

Ok. Conner is 5 years old, weighs 34 pounds, and takes 20 mg of Adderall XR twice a day...one dose at 7 am and a follow up between 11:30-12:00...

It takes at LEAST 30-45 minutes for the medication to have any affect on Conner. During that waiting period Conner will run throughout the house, screaming at the top of his lungs, crawl under the computer desks, jump OVER the couch, want to change clothes several times - or doesn't want ANYONE touching his clothes, and then he just goes calm. Still hyper, still talking loudly, still the same little boy, just without the constant motion! (But DEFINATELY not a bump on the log!!)

Then he's still the hyper little boy like most kids his age for a few hours... But you can DEFINATELY tell about 11:00 that he needs more medication. He starts the same routine, going SUPER SUPER loud, running through the house, opening and shutting the fridge doors, changing clothes like a maniac, and just really making me wanna pull my hair out! And the talking...he DOESN'T STOP TALKING...repeating himself over and over and over. I answer him, he doesn't seem to hear or doesn't seem to understand what I say, so he refrases the question again and again. *ugh*

But still I wait until at LEAST 4.5 hours has passed since his last dose of meds before giving him a second dose. Then again, the meds are completely out of his system by that time, so it takes another 30-45 minutes before he calms down again. *sigh*

By 4 pm the meds are out of his system again and he's just bouncing everywhere. Conner's doctor has given us permission to give him another dose of 20 mg Adderall xr at this time...but I HATE doing that. I feel like he's getting too much medication that way...AND when we do do that he doens't sleep.

For that matter...he really doesn't sleep anyways. It usually happens about 4 out of 7 nights that he just cannot sleep through the night, or he'll have trouble falling asleep to begin with, or he'll have nightmares. *sigh* And on those nights, he's awake by 6 am for the day...

Do you think switching to a different med would help?

[StrugglingAgain]

Hello? Hello? Well, boy can I sympathize!! Anna, my ds is now nine, but we've been going through the same thing since he was four. We can NOT give him more meds than we are now, but the roller coaster is terrible and I feel for him as well as us. Your story could be written by me even now, after he's been on meds for five years. You may ask your doctor if a small dose of Clonidine would help him get to sleep, though. It DOES help my son get to sleep, but like your child, he awakens at 5:00 AM ready to go! When his meds wear off during the day he jumps on the furniture with his shoes on, screams at the top of his lungs, talks incessantly, talks back to any and all adults, etc. It ALWAYS takes about 45 minutes for his meds to kick in, but that has been true no matter what the medication has been....and believe me, he's been on almost all of them! My son is currently on four different meds and it's the best it's been so far....but not great! Please feel free to ask away...we are ALL here to help you if we can. Most of us have been where you are!!

[Brenda]

Anna,are you sure he's on adderall xr or is he on regular adderall?Adderall xr last 10-12 hours and is a once a day med.I would be worried if a doctor prescribed it 3 times a day.Too much can cause increased hyperactivity.

[savvymom1]

Hi Anna, I was wondering the same thing--I thought the Adderall he is on would last all day. You may want to check with the doc.

My daughters both take Focalin, which we really like, but yesterday I gave my youngest a slightly higher dose than she is used to taking. At first she was hyper-focused for a while and then she got revved up and silly and couldn't calm down.

Now I know what they mean about over medicating! We were on a slightly lower dose for the holidays so she would have a better appetite. I needed to up it again for school but didn't have the proper dose. No more experimenting!! Good luck to you!

[StrugglingAgain]

Anna, Brenda is correct in the time that Adderall XR should work. The same is true of Ritalin LA which my son takes. Both are supposed to last eight hours, but my son's metabolism is such that it's left his system in 3 1/2 hours! At about four hours he's given another Ritalin LA and four hours after that he's taking a Focalin to get through homework at home!! I hate it, but his doctors (three of them) are watching closely and so far he's doing great. He's been on this combination for over a year. My point is that your doctor should make that determination with help from you as to when you KNOW it's no longer in his system. My son's quality of life would be horrific if he weren't on these meds. Tell your doctor everything you've told us and see what they might recommend.

[Anna]

Hiya everyone,

Yes I did mean Adderall XR. Conner's metabolism is just so high, that he burns through the meds. The doctors are watching him closely. It's out of his system within 3-4 hours.

I'd type more but my husband says I have to go to bed*hehe*

Anna

[eaccae]

Anna - I can't help wondering if trying perhaps a short acting medication to see how he reacts. Clearly the time release is not working for you at all - and since he is "burning" through the meds so quickly - he must be getting a much higher dosage - pretty much 20 mgs instead of a slow releasing 10 mgs. Have you tried other medications/dosages? Perhaps he is not quite at his ideal dosage? Just some thoughts. I know that for DS - the time released medications react very differently . . . Metadate CD works so well but it is out of his system by the time he gets home from school (so we do the booster thing). Ritalin LA at the same dosage practically comatosed him in the morning, he was close to getting out of control by noon and by the time he got off the bus he was a monster due to the rebounds . . . If this is the only med you have tried you may want to think about trying a different one. Sometimes it can take a few before finding the right one. And because all the time released meds have different delivery systems and kids have such individual metabolisms . . . these medications seem to work very differently in each child even though they are the "same" overall dosage of the same medication. The delivery system is different on each time released med - and the time release dosing is different (ritalin 50% in the am and then 50% around noon, metadate cd 30% in the am and then a more of a constant release of 70%). I hope I made sense.